jazeera.com. al jazeera from new york city. i am thomas dra deny. here are the top stories at this hour. >> after careful deliberation, i have decided that the united states should take military action against syrian regime targets. >> the president confirms that he wants to intervene in syria, but he won't do so without congressional approval. u.n. investigators arrive in the netherlan netherlands. >> the next will be in a position to transmit it's conclusions to the secretary general as soon as it has received the results of the

laboratory analysis. >> three weeks away. footage of soldiers performing drills with paymenttriotic music while president asad's regime is blaming the obvious chemical attack on rebels. >> good to have you with us. confident and ready to strike at a moment's notice, president obama said his defense team is ready to strike syrian targets when given the order to do so. >> this mission is not time-sensitive. it will be effective tomorrow or next week or one month from now. and i am prepared to give that order. but having made my decision as commander in chief, based on what i am convinced is our national security interests, i

am also mindful that i am the president of the world's oldest constitutional democracy. >> that's why i have made a second decision. i will seek authorization for the use of force from the american people's representatives in congress. for the last several days, we've heard from members of congress who want their voices to be heard. i absolutely agree. this morning i spoke with all four congressional leaders. they have agreed to schedule a debate and a vote as soon as congress come back in the session. congressional approval will be debated beginning september 9th. >> that's according to a statement released from speaker of the house congressman john boehner. his statement came only moments after president obama spoke from the rose garden. speaker boehner says the house will consider military action the second week of september. also, british prime minister david cameron issued a brief statement on twitter saying he, quote, understands and supports

obama's position on syria. mike, many people were surprised by what the president had to say today, congress planning to discuss the matter after the august recess. >> reporter: well, you know, earlier in the week, thomas, white house aides were openly dismissing the ideas behind the signs and said they would ultimately consult congress. john boehner had not specifically asked him to do so though many members of the president's own party, political on the left side of the political spectrum had asked him to in writing get prior authorization and many on the right, particularly tea party members who, many of them are isolationists say the president needed prior authorization but we had no indication that the white house would wait at least until september 9th. >> that's the date they get back, thomas, not the date they are going to vote, to do this. i mean that is two weeks hence essentially. a little more than a week. very much of a surprise. all indications were after hearing from john kerry

yesterday, lay out the sxwament, more than 1400 deadindictment, no doubt that theas as sad regime did it, a thug and a murderer, kerry called him. he had openly talked about the military options, a shot across the bow, as he called it, now, a delay. they will go to congress. it's not going to be an easy vote. it's going to be a very messy debate. let's hear a little bit more of what the president had to say in the rose garden? >> i respect the views of those who call for caution, particularly as our country emerges from a time of war that i was elected, in part, to end. but if we really do want to turn away from taking appropriate action in the face of such an unspeakable outrage, we must acknowledge the costs of doing nothing. here is my question for every member of congress and every member of the global community: what message will we send if a dictator can gas hundreds of

children to death in plain sight and pay no price? reporter: and just an indication of how complicated this debate is going to be, thomas, john mccain and lindsey graham, two republicans who favor a robust military presence by the united states who have favored airstrikes in libya, who have criticized the president repeatedly the last several months for what they regard his weak response. they say they cannot support any military action but only on the grounds that it won't go far enough. they say a change in momentum on the battlefield against bash arrested al as sad's forces is what is needed. so you are going to have a divided republican party. you are going to have a divided democratic party. we are going to get further and further away from the precipitating event, the horrific attack and subsequent pictures of the chemical attack on august 24th. so unclear at this point how this is going to go, but certainly, the president taking a very big risk, both militarily

and political. >> a political gamble. what happens if congress rejects military, mike? reporter: it's hard to see where the president could go. it is a difficult position. the president, after all, to some degree has himself in this position, he, a year ago, laid down that red line. he said it would be a game-changer, implied there would be heavy consequences to pay. the president, over the course of the last week has called the firing, the deployment of these weapons something that affects america's core national interests. they talked to secretary kerry about set angexample. it's hard to see how the vote will go, how the president comes out on top or even further out there, in terms of a possibility, goes forward with an attack if congress were to expressly reject that option, tom. >> we will see in the weeks ahead, mike vequeira. robert, what kind of reaction

are you hearing to the president's remarks? reporter: well, reaction seems pretty mixed here on the streets of beirut, it was sort of a collective sigh. all day today, people were walking around this bustling city as they usually do on a saturday, though traffic not as heavy. then when president obama gave his speech in the rose garden in washington, all eyes and ears were trained on it, and the city came to life. it's interesting. the streets opened up. more traffic was out there. people started to go out here in beirut which has a bustling nightlife and the reaction in this town specifically is relief. now, we are also hearing some other things. >> we made a few phone calls. we have also some people down in the southern suburbs of beirut, hezbollah controlled the region and a lot of the folks are telling some of our sores down there that they believe this is a back-off, that perhaps the

president was looking for a way to back out of the situation and that is what they think has occurred. now, it's anyone's guess. there is a lot of rhetoric being thrown away. there is -- thron around. there are a lot of opinions in this part of the world. thomas? >> could be some time, as you know, before u.s. congress takes action. do we expect to see an exdid you say from the syrian people? reporter: i don't think we expect a mass exodus in or out. i can tell you this, that earlier today, we spoke with lebanese officials at the syrian/lebanese boarder and they informed us at 1:00 p.m. there was 5,000 entrances, 5,000 people coming in from syria and 3,000 people leaving into syria. the 3,000 people, many of those people that were leaving, told our reporters on the ground there that they wanted today go back and support the syrian government, that they were angry at the possibility of strikes. now, as far as what happens on

this, the borders, there are six countries that border syria. there could be many people going in. there could be many people coming out. but right now, it's a collective sort of, i think, standback, a breadth, so to speak, as we watch what happens in washington, what unfolds in the coming days. >> are you getting any reaction as far as the timeline? the president saying it could be 24 hours, could be a week, a month, before military action takes place. are you getting any reaction to that timeline? >> no reaction in particular. like i said, i really believe that most people here are just happy that there is not going to be strikes. i know that in beirut, they are happy about that. now, that's different, the free syrian army things completely different. they told us earlier, right after the speech that they wished that the strikes would have occurred and they want larger scale strikes. they would prefer that obama would have acted on that. now, that's the information that

we have. but there is an unbelievable amount of opinion in this part of the world, in lebanon and syria. many different voices wanting to be heard. and deciphering all of that is the complicated part of the situation right now to be totally honestly with you. >> joining us live in beirut. thank you. we are joined by retired lieutenant general richard knewton. he served as former assistant vice chief of staff of the u.s. air force. we do welcome you, general. what can you tell us about the potential target did and timing of this action? >> the president has laid out the fact that, again, the military, u.s. military is ready to go tomorrow. it's ready to go in a week. it could be ready to go in 30 days. >> that's very clear. >> uh-huh. >> i believe also the target sets, as we have discussed, or perhaps have been certainly circulating around washington, d.c. and in the media. these would be, in my view, going after assad's air force, his air defenses, particularly,

you know, his command and control of those assets as well. i would also think that we would want to go after him and strike with precision, his ability to do air supply. he has russian made i l39 and il aircraft that have capability to transfer the chemical weapons, delivery capabilities. and so on that note, it would be still a strike with great precision. i believe it's going to be limited in scope. so that doesn't change the calculus that the president has laid out. >> once those strikes are completed, what does that mean for the assad regime moving forward? >> that's a 64,000 dollar question. it's a very good question because the challenge we have is exactly what are the -- how do we want to shape this thing? and while we want to shape it to an outcome that is certainly, you know, obviously pro for the u.s. and the other nations that

are supporting us and so forth, but, also, what are the unintended consequences we want to avoid? and so that is -- that's going to be very much a challenge. >> is there a role for special spoors without boots on the ground? >> you know,forces without boot ground? >> you know, but i don't see that in the scenario right now. >> that's just my opinion. i think, again, it will be limited in scope of i believe it will be mainly sea-based capabilities from the sdroirz in the region, particularly in the eastern mediterranean with the tomahawk missiles and so forth. i don't see the employment of special process. as the president alluded, no boots on the bound. >> do you see western allies working together? >> they are certainly working together, you know, baiptsdz several years of cooperation we have hadsed upon several years of cooperation we have had through desert storm and obviously during operation enduring freedom post-9-11 and to this day when we have a coalition of forces. i believe there is also going to be sharing of intelligence and

things of that nature that we will still be needing a could alition of fors. it may not necessarily be partnering with us specifically with an attack and so forth, but other ways of operations that we can certainly be supported by. >> we talk about the president's timeline. is this delay in a sense going to help syria? >> it will, if anything, it will put an unknown in syria. however, the president's made it very clear that he wants to go to congress and, certainly, speaker boehner said it won't bring the house back until the 9th of september. so, it does give him a little bit of time. so time is actually added in favor to assad? or is that added perhaps as an unknown because there is still an unknown factor whether or not the united states will act unilaterally or not? >> what does success ultimately look like in this mission? >> that, again, is a very good question. success in this case, i still think the president needs to make that case. again, that's my opinion. but i believe that we still need

to understand, as the american people, still need to understand, what is it that we are exactly trying to achieve? that not only in terms of the scope of the attacks, themselves or impending attacks, if we go that route. but what is it that we are really trying to shape at the end of the day? what is it that we are trying to shape in terms of not only assad's behavior? but what's the end game? that needs to be more clearly articulated. >> could the assad launch another chemical attack in retaliation? >> that's an inknown. >> that's another very good question. if it happens to be a lid attack on our part, say, in a few weeks. let's just call it for academic purposes. is it of a significant amount of attack that would compel the assad regime to do another chemical attack say a few days or week after that? or another potential wild card, does it compel those who are supporting assad, either those state actors or non-state actors

to then carry on attacks perhaps at the behest of assad? >> so many questions remain t certainly appreciate your time. thank you. >> thank you. >> the western leaders have ruled out syrian regime change as named. many would welcome the realmoval from assad from. the assad took power when his father took. he continued leadership by p patron age ruling over a coalition of his om family's religious sect. his father is the head of the republican guard and he commands the elite 4th armored division. he was wounded in a bomb attack in damascus last year. both members are brothers are members of the branch of alawite of islam. it is the mine offerty among the larger position. when he took office in 2000, he appointed many alawites to

senior positions. another says the regional secretary or head of the syrian section of the baath party. members have traditionally made up a sizeable group in the cabinet but the two-year civil war has eroded much of its support. his main areas of support are confined to the traditional alawi alawite coastal areas in much of damascus. >> president obama's remarks came amid protests of intervention of the -- military intervention in syria. >> reporter: >> opponents of a u.s. strike on the assad regime are in the majority. the latest poles show less than half of the u.s. population supports action from washington. the potential for strike on syria has also galvanized anti-war protesters around the

world. in australian, hundreds gather for a rally in sydney. many carried signs supporting the syrian president. hundreds of pro-assad protestors took to the streets of frankfurt in germany with a message: hands off, sir yap i can't. >> turning to jordan, demonstrators gathered in iman to protest against american intervention president obama says he is putting military action to a congressional vote. meanwhile, u.n. chemicalcal weapons investigators continue their analysis of samples collected in syria. james bays is at the united nations. he's joining us with more. >> president obama has made it quite clear that he is not going to wait for the u.n. in any form, neither for the approval and authorization of the u.n. security council or for the report of those weapons inspectors, but there were their work does continue. they have left syria. they are now in the hague, which is the base or one of the bases

of the inspection team. they will now take the samples that they have gathered, the blood samples, the urine samples, the hair samples that were taken from the victims and some of those who were injured in the chemical weapons attack as well as some residue they found at the scene to laboratories in europe. now, the u.n. won't give any details of how long that work will take. they believe it will be days, possibly even weeks, possibly even a number of weeks. they say their work -- they will work as fast as they can but this is scientific analysis that needs rigorous assessment by the team before they come up with their final report. >> al jazeera has committed a number of our team members to the ongoing developments in syria. we will be updating you through the day on the continuing headlines coming out of the war-torn nation and for instant updates please checkaj.com. a shift in winds carried spoke into several towns neari yosemie

national park. it prompted air authorities to issue a health caution across six counties. the fire is about 35% contained. it's expected the effects of the 333-square mile blaze will be felt throughout the weekend. still ahead, it's famous new orleans location that went head-on against hurricane katrina. now, advocacy groups want the government to recognize the weather-torn site. >> i respect the views of those who call for caution, particularly as our country e emergencies from a time of war that i was elected, in part, to end. but if we really do want to turn away from taking appropriate action in the face of such an unspeakable outrage, then we must acknowledge the costs of

doing nothing. here is my question for every member of congress and every member of the global community: what message will we send if a dictator can gas hundreds of children to death in plain sight and pay no price? >> president obama calling for action against syria, but he says he will wait for a vote from congress before moving forward.

but should you be made aware if you are consuming them. that's next on "consider this." >> at a time united states should take military action against syrian regime targets. >> the president has made it clear he will be asking congress

for approval before any action is taken. he spoke in the white house rose garden a couple of hours ago. samples taken by u.n. chemical weapons inspectors in syria could take up to three weeks to be process. the analysis is taking place in the netherlands where the inspectors arrive early saturday. tests will be done to find out if any chemicalcal weapons were used. >> united states spokesman said at a news conference hours ago that about 1,000 international and u.n. staff remain in syria. he expressed the u.n.'s concern for their safety. a new effort is underway to put the site of a levy breached during hurricane katrina on the national register of historic places. the national park services rejected an effort by levies.org. this time, the organization is focusing on a site not owned by the corps. it's the crossroads of the oil and gas boom. in the past few years,

production has doubled in south texas. and job creation continues to rise. tom ackerman reports. >> it's midday in the once sleepy center of nixon, texas. not so long ago, this was a quiet farming town. now it's a literal crossroad of the oil and gas drilling boom in south texas. that has been again for the family restaurant run by dates e rojas. she has been drawn to an area where spanish is heard nearly as often as english. >> we have benefitted quite a bit because we have a lot of oil companies, and they have helped us, as well as other businesses in nixon. a lot of people are moving here from all over texas. >> it's been more than a sentence tree since texas saw its first oil gusher making america the world's leading producer until it was eclipsed by the middle east. but with new hydraulic fracturing technology, drillers are exploiting the state's deep

shale oil and gas deposits as never before. >> in the past three years, texas has doubled crude production, a sharp referenceable from two decades of falling output. if it were considered an independent nation, texas would rank just behind kuwait and venzuela on the global list of oil-producing states. it's a big region that texas was able to escape the worst of the great recession while u.s. jobs grew only by 1% in the last five years, the oil and gas industry increased by 40%. those paychecks are nourishing the local economy in one of the historically poorest region options of the country. >> all of the sudden, you are seeing jobs in south texas that are averaging $7,080,000 a year -- 70 or $8,078 a year plus binp benefits and the region had not seen that kind of multiplier effect. it will change south texas. >> after previous oil booms, texas has gone through busts. but as america's first for

fossil fuel keeps going and crude oil prices stay firm, people here expect a long ride. tom ackerman, al jazeera, nixon, texas. >> the heat continues across the midwest and storms are making headlines in the southwest. here is al jazeera meteorologist rebecca stevenson. >> that was a great summary because eventually we have been watching the same thing happen for the last three days at least. >> that's some very hot weather, coupled with humidity, we have heat advisories stretching across much of the midwest and now it's moving down into texas. labor day weekend, it's good to have some nice hot weather and feel like summer is wrapping up. >> that's what we have right now already 95 degrees in memphis. we have other temperatures in the east coast in the mid- to upper 80s. there are some showers in our picture, too. tomorrow, we are going to have temperatures stay on the warm side, definitely back into the 90s in some places. but tomorrow also starts to bring in more rain activity,

which will start bringing temperatures down where we have height advisories, in the midwest from anywhere from kentucky down toward the texas area and, also, into oklahoma as well. boy, it feels like 105. take it easy outside for your labor day weekend. i will show you more on where these showers are moving. there are some heavy ones there, some brief, heavy downpours, including some hail. that hail has been a big story, especially early this morning. we will have more details coming up, tom. >> rebecca, thank you. rosh nabuku is here. >> it's the opening weekend. all eyes on texas a & m quarterback johnny mansel. he had to sit out the entire first half because of his autograph scandal. in the second half, johnny football in full effect. a strike to mike evans who scampers into the score. manzel putting his signature all over the game, scoring three

touchdown passes. as we speak, aggies are leading 50 to 28 late in the fourth quarter. in the n.f.l., tim tebow, they cut him to get down to the 53-man roster. teebow completed 33% of his passes while scoring two touchdowns and two interceptions. at the u.s. open, serena williams had a late start against shabovano. serie a dominating, your fourth time u.s. open champion will face fell own american sloan stephens in the round of 16. everybody can't wait for that match-up much those are your sports headlines at this hour. >> the wedding present never offered before. the supreme court justice showing friendship in her position on a contested civil right.

nothing. here is my question for every

welcome back to al jazeera. i am thomas draydon with a look at the top stories at this hour. in the last few hours, we have heard from president obama who has laid out his plans for a strike on syria. >> after careful deliberation, i

have decided that the united states should take military action against syrian regime targets. >> the president has made it clear that he will be asking congress for approval before any action is taken. he spoke in the white house rose garden a couple of hours ago. shortly after president obama spoke, the speaker of the house, john boehner, released a statement saying, congress would consider a measure on syria september 9th. the statement also said under the constitution, the responsibility to declare war lies with congress, and we are glad the president is seeking authorization for any military action in syria in response to sirius questions being raised. senate republican leader mitch mcconnell released a statement saying: the president's role as commander in strength is always strengthened when he enjoys the expressed support of the congress. joining us from our nation's capitol, our washington correspondent, casey libby. a big gamble for the president.

>> reporter: it's an interesting turn of event did for sure. as we watch the president make the statement today, it was not expected that he would throw this curveball essentially, putting the ball in congress's court to some degree. it's not that the president has totally ruled out moving forward. i think that's what's get can lost in this discussion a little bit. he is saying congress, here is your turn to move forward and to act, and so we are going to be seeing a briefing tomorrow behind closed doors of members of congress. not a lot of people are here in washington, though, since it's still the work period, the recess where peoples are back in their home districts. we will be watching to see who attends that briefing. we will also be watching fosee what happens on the sunday talk shows tomorrow, an important moment for both parties to get their messages across. one of the folks who will be we will be seeing on "meet the press" rand paul of kentucky, someone who is being watched as a leader in the republican party in the next wave of these republicans who say, uh-uh. not our fight.

let's not get involved. so they are going to have a moment to give their $0.02 tomorrow and moving forward. >> what has the president's decision to seek congressional approval, what has the reaction been on capitol hill? >> well, it has been vocal and it has been a busy day on social media and on e-mails, everyone working the phones to find out what members are saying in reaction to this. we are seeing some leaders in the democratic party like congresswoman nancy pelosi, leaders of the democrats and the house. she is saying she agrees with the president's desire to seek input from congress, and she says, you know, as long as there aren't american boots on the ground that this is going to be a moment to move forward. we are also seeing, though, some pushback from republicans and there is some new answer to this pushback, members like senator mccain, senator lindsey graham, of arizona and south carolina. these are two leaders in the senate who are very interested in what the u.s. does next. they are saying right move by the president to look to us for

input here, but they are saying they are not going to support what they are calling sort of arbitrary strikes from -- from the united states. instead they want to see a more concerted effort that has a game plan and actually has more direction. so en though they are supportive of some movement forward, they are not really on board with what the president is calling for at this point. >> certainly more reaction to come. libby casey in washington. libby, thank you. in the meantime, united nations investigators have returned from syria. they will prepare findings on chemical weapons use there but the u.n. says a full assessment could take wicks. zeena hoda has the latest from lebanon. >> they completed their mission in syria. now, the u.n. weapons inspect organs will give the evidence and samples they gathered to laboratories. the analysis will determine if chemical weapons were responsible for the deaths of hundreds in the rebel-controlled damascus suburbs. the united states has asked the west to give it time before resorting to military action. it is something some syrians are

asking for as well. >> my message to the west is to give peace a chance. syrians is to live together. it was a beautiful country. the only way now is to hold dialogue. let the warring sides talk and reach a compromise. >> the conflict in syria has affected the lives of so many and what might come next could cause even more suffering. >> that's why thousands of syrians are flee to gole lebanon in anticipation of western strikes against the regime. many know those strikes won't necessarily end the war. >> the outcome of all of this is that they are killing each other. brothers are killing brothers. isn't this a shame? reporter: many of these cars have damascus license plates. the feeling among the people is that the regime's stronghold will be hit. >> authorities say they are ready to retab 80 against any attack. they didn't say how. it seems they've already repositioned their artillery and moved men from their bear

affordable care act, they are saying the army and their families have been moved in to schools where the internally displaced used to live. other reports say detainees have been moved in to military bear affordable care act. >> reporter: an ongoing department defensive in the dame ascus suburb is seen as an army effort not to lose control of the capitol. it is a strategic area. it borders the military airports and other loyalist position including the presidential palace. >> that's why some in the opposition believe the army wants to keep rebels as far away as possible so they can't exploit the impact u.s. strikes could have if indeed they do happen. but those strikes could weaken the defenses and the regime center of power. zeina choudr, in lebanon. u.s. allies have responded to the latest remarks on syria. phillip is joining us live in london. phillip? reporter: well, thomas, one of the most interesting things we

are hearing on this side of the atlantic is that there was, indeed, a phone call that president obama held with the french president before the press conference there in the rose garden in which they consulted on this idea of taking the vote to congress. president oland is said to have responded that he understands each country has to go at a pace of their own and respected the deposition by the obama white house. thomas. >> are binges reacting to obama's commentseuropeans react obama's comments >> here in britain, the prime ministern, of course, who got a real beating earlier in the week getting turned down in parliament has already tweeted, "i understand and support barack obama's position on syria." within his own party, there is now being some political gains to be made domestically here some talk of perhaps talking it back to parliament in another

vote to then go along with some sort of congressional vote. it's far too early to say whether or not that's happened. here in london, there has been a very positive response from the conservative government. no response from the opposition labor government quite yet, but the decision to take this, a much more measured step is no doubt going to be met with agreement by a lot of people, a lot of people who went on the streets today to procetest some sort of swift, thomas. >> if the president loses the vote in congress, could this be seen as a setback in the international community? >> without a doubt. i think there is a strong belief here, certainly among the populations in europe, the public opinion here, that this needs to be much more measured, that there was a sense that the obama white house was rushing to action in syria. there were protests around at a time continent today, so this decision will be generally, i

believe, met with -- with a positive reaction. as far as within the political circles, it's a little bit different in each different country. certainly, the french who were ready to go, it seemed, may see this as a slowing down and a loss of momentum, but almost every other government within europe is going to probably meet this decision with a positive reaction. >> philip joining us from london. thank you. some additional insight about president obama's statement on syria, we turn to jim walsh. >> good to see you. >> at this point, did the president lay out his case? certainly a moral one but did he lay out his case? >> i think we got a little more information about it. i don't think the full case yet. but he did it identify buried in that speech were what i saw as two opinibjectives. it's great to talk about targets and assets. first, he said he wants to deter

the syrian government from using chemical weapons in the future. he also said secondly and this is a separate issue, he wants to degrade their chemical capability. so part of that, any action that may be taken, i think, includes hitting at assad, punishing him or trying to hit him where something with he values with the message of, if you do this again, you are going to suffer more. >> that's what the deterrent message is about. the second part trying to get at the chem units. the manufacturing facilities, maybe the agent, itself. >> that's. >> waiting on congressional's approval on taking action in syria, does this help syria? >> a excuse me of things, first, i want to say about this, i want to step back and say, this is a stunning development. nu 1, i am shocked. i think everyone is shocked. no. 2, i think it's unprecedented. presidents have sought approval authorization in the past but never where it all looked like it was just about to happen within 24 hours, all of the

assets are in place and then bang, a complete reversal. >> what do you think is xliepd behind that >> i was talking with a colleague. i don't know why. there are some theories but clearly something happened between yesterday and today that led to this change. i am not sure what it is. but to get to your question, you know, waiting 30 days, what does that mean? i think for most of the major assets, the u.s. military, which is the biggest military on earth by far. if you are going aver a tank, you are going after a building, you are going aver a manager, a chem manufacturing facility. if you are going to do that today you can do it 30 days from today. if you are going to go after the chemical agent, the nerve gas, i think that creates something. >> what does this mean for the syrian people >> i think, ironically in the short-term, it may mean that assad doesn't -- if he is smart, he won't do anything over the next 30 days that will give congress a reason to support this. so ironically, for 30 days, they might get a break here at least

with respect to chemical weapons if not more generally. but after that vote, you know, i think you are back to the civil war. and one of the things members are congress are going to have to wrestle with. what happens if they vote no and the next day they use chemicals. >> that's why members of congress get so nervous but the president is calling them on the record. >> if this was a poker game, he didn't just raise. he went all in and in a way that i would have loved to have been a fly on the wall in some of these congressional offices today because i am sure they didn't see that one going. >> how do you go all in, though without the support of the american people >> i meant all in politically. he is putting it on them. if he loses, that is a huge defeat. if he wins, it's a big victory, you know. and so if you are sitting in congress, there are a lot of unknowns here a lot of things can happen over 30 days. not only here domestically but overseas. if syria takes an, it could affect it either way. what is hezbollah going to do?

what are our partners going to do? are you going to get a series of endorsements? are you going to get a series of resixties? there is a lot of unknown territory over the next 30 days that will have a direct bearing on this outcome. >> what happens if congress votes no? >> the president said he doesn't need the authorization, the authority of congress. i would think it would be virtually impossible politically to get a no vote and execute the operation anyway. i think at that point, it becomes difficult and his political position becomes tenable. >> as we said today, political gamble. jim walsh, political expert, mit thank you for your time. >> thank you al jazeera has committed a number of our team members to the ongoing developments in syria. we will update you throughout the day on the continued headlines out of the war-torn nation. for instant updates, please checkaj.com. this coming in just now -- al jazeera.com. >> yemen's leader esc aid an

assassination attempt. the gunman fled. no injuries being reported in the attack as of right now. we will certainly update you with more information as soon as we learn more. reports that nelson mandela went home are not true. the south san francisafrican le family hopes he will be released from the hospital in pretty pretoria. he has been suffer from a respiratory illness since june. this morning, forensic scientists begin recovering bodies, after decades office of investigations. some of the children were as young as 6 years old. al jazeera natasha gunam went to

the story. >> there are bodies buried on the campus of'sus of doze year reform school. on the side of campus where the black boys lived. >> i think there wit was someth world needed to know. >> the camps us opened in 1900. it was a place the state -- where the state put kids who got in to trouble. >> scary, you know, like the whole world had desserted us. >> this is a form to me of slavery because they beat you to what they wanted you to do. they say they did back-breaking farm work. richard lost a toe in the cain fields. they ended up in what they call the white house >> a torture chamber because here is where you got your mind right. if you didn't know how to pray, you learned pretty fast. >> even though know one knows who is buried here or how they died, the state isn't launching a criminal investigation.

the attorney general says only one stamp is too alive, too old to be questioned. stim t could be determined if a boy died as a result of, say, a gunshot or blunt force trauma. searchers have found 50 bodies so far and they have only just begun their work using ground-penetrating radar, the kind of technology used to find mass graves in the former yugoslavia. >> researchers at the university of south florida are hoping to identify the remains and finally, return them to their loved ones. those they can't identify will be properly buried in marked graves here on the campus cemetery. >> there is a legal obligation to the state of florida to return those remains to the families for proper burial and some have argued there is also a moral obligation that the state has to do this. >> until then, richard huntley will have to speak for the dead. >> our life was cut short a and now here, we lay. bones from these forgotten graves.

free us. free us. let our bones go home. >> natasha t al jazeera, florida. >> nearly 100 children died at the school. many died as a result of a dormitory fire in 1914 and a deadly flu epidemic in 1914. any remains will be taken to the university of south florida in tampa in hopes the boys' families can finally,bury them. >> pope fran sus has made his most significant appointment in march. he named a new secretary of state, a role often called a depos deputy pope >> carolin will act as the prime minister aide. he will be involved until finances and admissions with diplomatic relations in more than 170 countries. a history-making wedding gift. a supreme court justice offic80s a same-sex marriage. also, college tall is in full

swing this afternoon. ross shimauku, including the return of johnny manzel that's coming up in sports. innovation changes our lives. opening doors ... opening possibilities. taking the impossible from lab ... to life. on techknow, our scientists bring you a sneak-peak of the future, and take you behind the scenes at our evolving world. techknow - ideas, invention, life.

♪ supreme court justice ruth bader ginsburg will become the first justice to 0 fish 80 a same-sex marriage. she will preside over the marriage of her long-time friends, kennedy senator president, michael kaiser and economist john roberts. ross shabuku for sports. >> we have been waiting for this

moment for such a long time. unfortunately, johnny manzel had to mawait 30 minutes because of his autograph scandal. to make matters worse, texas a & m suspended four other players. johnmy manzel playing cheerleaders. if you give a hoot, the owls took a 14-7 lead as charles ross powers in for the score but johnny manzel's back-up, mac joeckel would rise the troops. jones seals the deal by spreading in for the 71 yard score. >> here is john income, johnny manzel working magic on his second drive. he hooks up with mike evans for the 23 yard score. manzel putting his signature all over this game bythrowing three touchdown passes, 6 for 8 for 94 yards as thing agies would go on to hammer rice 52-31 is your final.

number two ohio state airing it out on buffalo. braxton miller unloads a rainbo to devon smith. miller threw two touchdowns on the day the buckeyes would win big, 40 to 20 is your final. here is the question: will tim teabow ever play quarterback in the n.f.l. again? they cut the heisman trove winner to get to the 53 man roster. he has struggled this preseason completing 33% of his passes while throwing two touchdowns and two enter sessions. he hit an all-time high two years ago in denver. ever since then, it's been a steady decline with the jets and patriots and you have to wonder if any other team will give him a shot to play quarterback but teabow continued he will continue his life long dream of being an n.f.l. quarterback. remember hour u kids said nothing good happens after midnight. serena williams may beg to differ. she had a late start against yaraslavo sharoboda.

she was smashing, the 4-time u.s. open champion won a straight set serving up six aces in the process. the match ended after 1:00 o'clock eastern time. next up, serena would take on fellow american, sloan stevens who is considered the future of america tennis. dig this, simone beat serena earlier in the year. >> i think regardless when you are playing a player like shardoba, you have to be focused. i was so excited you guys stayed out for the late night rendezvous. it's going to be tough. sloan's playing so well and i am always so happy for her. she is always doing great and regardless, there is definitely going to be one american in the quarterfinals. i am excited about that and proud of sloan. it will be a really good match. >> serena so far has dominated. can she keep it going and defend her u.s. open title? can andy murray do the same?

our john henry smith has a preview. reporter: columnist dub rothson and doug, tell me, serena williams, she has come in, lost in cincinnati but she looks like she has come in with the eye of the tiger. it seems like there is one person who could really, really see her and -- beat her and that's azarank. with a do you think about the prospects? >> serena has played a pretty dominating season. she looked like she was in serena form in the first round. she put a beat down on her opponent. but i think one player that probably doesn't fear sere na is her. serena has a dominating record over here but ozeranka has shown she is one of the players that might be able to take her out of this tournament. >> on the men's side, jokovich comes in number 1 seated. but nadal having won one of the

two tournaments in this and you have the defending champ as the third seat, tight at the top of the men's draw. >> absolutely. jokovich has been the best player on hard courts. nadal has had a phenomenal season since he came off from his 7 month layoff from knee problems and andy murray. it's tight at the top. >> a name that flies under the radar and even shocking to use this man's name in the same sentence with "flying under the rada", roger federer, came in, 7th seated player and mcinrow has said he doesn't think federer has another granted slam in him >> i think roger has another granted slam in him. he is still, you know, one of the most electric players out there there. he has obviously struggled this season. it has been his worst season in the last decade. he has problems with his back that acted up. it takes longer to recover from matches. but if things break his way, i

don't think there is any doubt roger federer could win another grand slam tournament. >> that's a wrap for sports. let's check in with rebecca for weather >> yes. i am rebecca steven soverign. we've got hot, wet weather headlining the holiday weekend. the full forecast is just minutes away. ç]

>> welcome back. i'm meteorologist rebecca stevenson. labor day weekend, typically end of summer and we've got some nice summer temperatures and some nice summer thunderstorms too. we're looking it to be hot once again especially in the midwest. 91 in denver, triple dirgt digin texas and oklahoma. make sure you drink your water. it's going to stay hot again with only slight cooling as we get into the day tomorrow. and still close to 80° west of the cascades for washington and oregon and low 80s for los angeles. then as we get into our labor

day itself, monday, that's when we'll get a little bit cooler from three to eight degrees or so. and rain showers moving into the east coast, heavy rain showers, too. heavy showers tracking that direction into the carolinas and virginia, some of these are bringing in brief heavy downpours and a lot of lightning. what the story is really is, we've got two fronts and one front is moving through bringing showers to the northeast today? hit and mission -- today, hit and miss, as it works its way slowly eastward. we'll be tracking the amount of water coming down and show you the rain gauges. in the meantime we'll also let you know what's going on with international weather here on al jazeera america. we'll keep you up to date what's happening right now.

>> i'm thomas drayton. here are the stories we're following. president obama announced today that the u.s. should take action against military targets in syria. however he will not do so without authorization from congress. perhaps the week of september 9th. several cargo planes landed at the insurlic air base in turkey today. it's not sure what actions they will play. sanctions